Currency sorter

ABSTRACT

A currency sorter includes: take-in means ( 101 ) for taking currency notes in the sorter one by one; discriminating means ( 105 ) for discriminating the currency notes according to new and old versions, fit and unfit conditions, denominations and other categories; a plurality of stacking units ( 111  to  115 ) for stacking the currency notes of a predetermined category/categories designated to be bundled according to the discrimination results obtained by said discriminating means; designating means ( 11 ) for designating the category/categories of the notes to be bundled and a mode of sorting the notes to leave unbundled; and control means ( 400 ) for controlling allocation of currency notes discriminated by said discrimination means to said stacking units according to a designation by said designating means.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a currency sorter, and moreparticularly, to the one that serves to take in mixed currency depositedin sheets, discriminate, sort them out denominations, face values, orversions, put them into stacking units, and bundle a predeterminednumber of the notes.

BACKGROUND ART

In financial companies and organizations, a currency sorter is generallyused to facilitate organizing and handling deposited currency notes.When a bunch of currency notes of normal and unfit conditions and ofvarious face amounts together are deposited (normal notes are referredto as “fit notes” hereinafter while “unfit notes” means those which aresignificantly fatigue due to grime and breakage), such a currency sorterserves to sort the currency notes according to their respectivedenominations and fit/unfit conditions and then bundle typically ahundred of the notes, for example, with a tape.

A prior art sorter of the similar type can handle at most the currencynotes of only three face values of 1,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 10,000 yen,for instance, and the typical sorter is disclosed in Japanese UtilityModel Registration No. 2597752 (Patent Document 1).

The Patent Document 1 describes a sorter that includes the externalstacking units for the currency notes of the above-identified facevalues and two built-in stacking units for bundling.

The external stacking units have a fixed relation with denominations,and are simply allocated to the currency notes of the individualdenominations. This means that it is impossible to sort out variedcategories such as fit and unfit conditions, new and old versions, andthe like to stack the notes of different categories discriminatively inthe stacking units.

Since currency notes of 2,000-yen face value are introduced in the year2001, it is required for the sorter to handle four types of currencynotes including the new 2,000-yen notes in addition to the conventionalthree types of 1,000-yen, 5,000-yen, and 10,000-yen notes.

The revised version of the currency sorter to cope with such arequirement is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No.2002-197509 (Patent Document 2), which have four stacking units for fourof the denominations.

Furthermore, the currency design may be sometimes changed, and in such acase, the notes of the old version must be prevented from circulatingany longer by collecting the notes of the old version and discriminatingbetween the new and the old to sort out the versions. However, the priorart currency sorter can at most identify the currency notes with the newor old version.

Even with four stacking units for four of the denominations, when thesorter is working to bundle the four types of the currency notes, all ofthe four stacking units is loaded with the currency notes, and if onlyone of the stacking units is fully stuffed, a deposit and reception ofthe notes must be interrupted. The currency notes taken out from thestacking unit immediately before “full” in the stacking unit is detectedare to be rejected even if they are fit and authenticated.

Thus, such an interruption degrades an operation efficiency as well asprocessing efficiency. In addition, till the notes filling the stackingunit are conveyed to undergo the bundling, incoming notes of the samedenomination (or the same category) also causes an interruption, and theincoming notes are rejected.

Moreover, the currency notes taken in just before the detection ofstacking unit full, which are rejected even if they are fit andauthenticated, cause a rejected note stacking unit to contain the reallyrejected notes and the normal notes together. This necessitates all thenotes in the trash unit to undergo the session of process twice, andthis significantly degrades the processing efficiency.

The sorters in the prior art can bundle the currency notesdiscriminatively between the new and old versions but not according toadditional categories and conditions, and some of such sorters have tomake the notes pass through the same sequence of the processing stepstill they are sorted as desired.

Furthermore, some other of the prior art sorters can sort out new andold versions and fit and unfit conditions in combination, but not fortwo different denominations at the same time. Thus, the sorter has tomake the currency notes pass through the same sequence of the processingsteps at least twice till they are sorted as desired.

In some real site of the practical use, it is greatly desired that thecurrency notes that should be withheld and those that are to be released(e.g., fit notes of the new version) should be discriminatively bunchedand bundled. This is because, when the currency notes of the new versionand those of the old version are stacked together, the notes of the oldversion and the unfit notes of the new version are to be equallyprevented from circulating in the financial market.

Such really desired way of the sorting cannot be attained in theconventional fashion where the currency notes of the same denominationare bunched discriminatively according to the new and old versions andthe fit and unfit conditions in combination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is made to overcome the above-mentioneddisadvantages in the prior art, and accordingly, it is an object of thepresent invention to provide a currency sorter that attains increasedflexibility to process notes of as many as four denominations and thatenables currency notes of old version to be efficiently withheld when adesign of the currency is revised.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a currencysorter that can efficiently recover from the operation stuck due to astacking unit(s) got stuffed.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided acurrency sorter comprising:

take-in means for taking currency notes in the sorter one by one;

discriminating means for discriminating the currency notes according tonew and old versions, fit and unfit conditions, denominations and othercategories;

a plurality of stacking units for stacking the currency notes of apredetermined category/categories designated to be bundled according tothe discrimination results obtained by said discriminating means;

designating means for designating the category of the notes to bebundled and a mode of sorting the notes to leave unbundled; and

control means for controlling allocation of currency notes discriminatedby said discrimination means to said stacking units according to adesignation by said designating means.

The currency sorter is provided with a plurality of built-in stackingunits and two external stacking units, and a sorting scheme is specifiedso that currency notes to be bundled in a subsequent stage and thoseleft in sheets are separately sent to the built-in stacking units andthe external stacking units, respectively. Hence, the notes to be leftin sheets without undergoing the bundling can be sorted out, and thesucceeding handling becomes easier.

For each deal, setting means is used to determine how to allocate thebuilt-in stacking units and the external stacking units to individualcategories of the currency notes, and hence, an flexibility to sort thecurrency notes can be increased without compromising on more efficientprocessing.

Since the sorter has five or more stacking units to stack the currencynotes to be bundled, the number of the stacking units are greater thanthat of the denominations of the currency that are at presentcirculating in Japan, and the extra stacking unit(s) are useful in that,when the currency is revised in design and then the currency notes ofboth new and old versions are passed in the financial market, varyingthe sorting norm to handle the currency notes of the old version as theunfit ones of the new version enables the currency notes of the samedenomination to efficiently be sorted out according to only twocategories, that is, (1) the fit notes of the new version laid in astock of change and (2) the unfit notes of the new version and all thenotes of the old version that are to be withheld to prevent fromcirculating in the market. The extra stacking unit(s), as many as adifference of four of the denominations of the currently circulatingcurrency from the number of the stacking units provided in the sorter,also enables the currency notes of two of the denominations at a time toefficiently be sorted out in the similar manner to the above. Inaddition, if one of the stacking units becomes full, the fifth stackingunit can be substituted for the stuffed one, and this is useful tofurther enhance the processing efficiency.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda currency sorter comprising:

take-in means for taking currency notes in the sorter one by one;

discriminating means for discriminating the currency notes according tonew and old versions, fit and unfit conditions, denominations and othercategories;

a plurality of stacking units for stacking the currency notes of apredetermined category/categories designated to be bundled according tothe discrimination results obtained by said discriminating means, thenumber of said stacking units being greater by one than the number ofdenominations;

bundling means for bundling currency notes of predetermined number;

designating means for designating the category/categories of the notesto be bundled and a mode of sorting the notes to leave unbundled; and

control means for controlling allocation of currency notes discriminatedby said discrimination means to one of said plurality of stacking unitsaccording to a designation by said designating means, and forcontrolling taking-in operation of said take-in means such that afterone of the stacking units becomes completely full and the extra stackingunit is substituted to stack the notes of the same denomination, if theremaining stacking units are about to be full, said take-in means isswitched from “continual feeding” to “intermittent feeding” to confirmdenomination by said discriminating means and the substitution continuesuntil new space generates in the extra stacking unit.

The currency sorter according to the present invention has the stackingunits as many in number as one added to the number of denominations ofthe currency notes to be bundled, and when one of the stacking unitsbecomes full during dumping the currency notes therein, the currencytransfer is switched from the continual basis to the intermittent basisin case of no vacant extra stacking unit. As a consequence, there is noneed of interrupting a deposit and receipt of the currency notes andrejecting all the currency notes, and this also enhances the processingefficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view schematically showing an innerstructure of an exemplary currency sorter in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a screen of the settings of various modes;

FIG. 3 shows the setting in a selectable denomination bundling modewhere an old version note is treated as a normal note;

FIG. 4 shows the setting In a direct bundling mode where an old versionnote is treated as a normal note;

FIG. 5 shows the setting in an entry and batch mode where old versionnote is treated as a normal note;

FIG. 6 shows the setting in a selectable denomination bundling modewhere an old version note is treated as a rejectable note;

FIG. 7 shows the setting in a direct bundling mode where an old versionnote is treated as a rejectable note;

FIG. 8 shows the setting in an entry and batch mode where an old versionnote is treated as a rejectable note;

FIG. 9 shows the setting in a direct selectable denomination bundlingmode where an old version note is treated new unfit note;

FIG. 10 shows the setting in a direct bundling mode where an old versionnote is treated a new unfit note;

FIG. 11 shows the setting in an entry and batch mode where an oldversion note is treated as a new unfit note;

FIG. 12 shows an example of a screen display presented on the operationdisplay unit while the sorting is being conducted in the bundling mode;

FIG. 13 shows an example of a screen display presented on the operationdisplay unit while the sorting is being conducted in the entry mode;

FIG. 14 shows an example of a screen display presented on the operationdisplay unit while the sorting is being conducted in the batch mode;

FIG. 15 illustrates a setting screen In treating the currency notes ofthe old version as unfit notes of the new version;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing allocations of built-in and externalstacking units to various categories of the currency notes such asfacial values, new and old versions, and the like, under the varioussettings in the embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 17 illustrates a screen display of definite data as to the externalstacking units;

FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating a special control effected when astacking unit gets full in the currency sorter according to the presentinvention; and

FIGS. 19A, 19B and 19C are schematic frontal views illustratingimprovements of a dumping slit of the sorter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view schematically showing an innerstructure of an exemplary currency sorter in accordance with the presentinvention.

A currency sorter 10 has an operation display unit 11 at its top, asorter/stacking unit 100 in its upper frontal area, a bundling unit 200in its lower frontal area, and a conveyer unit 300 at its back.

<Sorter/Stacking Unit 100>

The sorter has a receiving slit 101 approximately at the center of thefront to receive currency notes, and the deposited mixed notes ofvarious denominations are taken in by rollers 102 and 103 to convey themalong on a conveying route 104.

In the middle of the conveying route 104, a discrimination unit 105 islocated to identify the currency notes with denominations, fit and unfitconditions, authenticated and counterfeit entities, and front andreverse orientations. The discrimination unit 105 herein is capable ofdiscriminating new and old design versions of the currency notes of thesame denomination.

The conveying route is branched ahead of the discrimination unit 105,and as a result of the discrimination by the discrimination unit 105,the notes identified with the unfit and the counterfeit are thrown asrejected sheets in a stacking unit 106. The authenticated notesrecognized as in the fit condition further undergo inspections of theirrespective front or reverse orientations to be stacked head to tail intoa orderly heap by a front-back reversing unit 107, and thereafter, theyare sorted according to other requirements and then transferred to oneof stacking units 111 to 115 for the later processing of bunching andbundling with a band.

The stacking units 111 to 115 have their respective stacking stages 111a to 115 a that can be moved up and down by a lift means (not shown).

In FIG. 1, the stacking units 111 to 115 are ready to load. Wallsextending over upper ⅔ dimension of the stacking units, which aredenoted by alphanumerical reference signs 111 b to 115 b, have theirrespective lowest ends leveled with the stages 111 a to 115 a, andhence, the currency notes deposited in the stacking units bump againstthe walls 111 b to 115 b and temporarily settled therein. Weight plates111 c to 115 c pivot depending upon an amount of the deposited notes andpress them down so as to prevent the notes from flirting out over thewalls. The stages 111 a to 115 a and the walls 111 b to 115 b have theirrespective slits that permit a conveyer hand as mentioned below tofreely move through.

On the other hand, the remaining currency notes, which are left withoutundergoing the subsequent bundling process, are transferred to externalstacking units 121 and 122.

These stacking units 111 to 115 and the external stacking units 121 and122 can be used to discriminatively stack various types of currencynotes in various manners by varying settings depending upon thecategories such as denominations, fit and unfit conditions, new and oldversions of the currency notes and combinations of them. Descriptions ofthe settings are omitted herein since they are simply of minor concernsof the present invention.

A money returning unit 130 is located under the operation display 11,and a fraction of a predetermined number of the currency notes left inthe stacking units without undergoing the subsequent process of bundlingare retrieved to return therein. The money returning unit 130 has a tray131 with a contact lever 132 extending from its bottom, and a tip 132 aof the contact lever is pushed from behind to let the tray 131 moveforward, which allows a front shutter 133 to open so as to further stuckthe tray forward as depicted by dashed-dot line, thereby enabling anoperator to take out the fractional number of the currency notes.Further structures and functions of this part will be detailed later.

<Bundling Unit 200>

A bundling unit 200 located under the sorter/stacking unit 100 serves towind a band around a bunch of currency notes after a predeterminednumber (e.g., a hundred) of them are sorted and stacked.

The bunch of the currency notes, when reaches one hundred in number inthe stacking unit 111 to 115, are transferred through the conveyer unit300 to a stack unit 201 where the currency notes are held by pressing upand down thereon.

A rotary mechanism 202 is provided to wind bundling tape in positionaround the press-held currency notes, and its rotary motion makes thebundling tape 204 hold the bundle of the notes tight while a bundlingmechanism 205 pinches one end of the bundling tape released from a tapebox 203. Thus, after winding the bundling tape up, the end of the tapeis cut by a cutter and thermally bonded by a heater 207 to bundle thenotes.

The bundled currency notes are transferred on a belt conveyer mechanism208 and stacked down to a sorter outlet 209 in the course to whichprovided are a stamp 210 imprinting on the bundling tape a mark of afinancial company that treated and processed the notes, and anotherstamp 211 imprinting on the bundling tape a mark indicative of unfitnotes.

A run out mechanism of the bundling tape 204 is provided with a printer212 printing a date of the bundling process, a time of the same, aserial number of the processing machine, processing data featuredaccording to the present invention, an discrimination number of a personin charge, and the like.

The bundled currency notes may be sent to the sorter outlet as in thisembodiment, and alternatively, as in an apparatus disclosed in JapanesePatent Preliminary Publication No. 2003-141606, the bundled currencynotes may be put in stacking in a housing.

The conveyer unit 300 at the back of the sorter transports both thecurrency notes ready to be bundled in the following stage and the oddnotes left in sheets, between the stacking units 111 to 115 and thebundling unit 200 or the money returning unit 130.

<Conveyer Unit 300>

The conveyer unit 300 is comprised of a guide shaft 301 verticallyextended between lower and upper ends of the sorter, a lift unit 310operatively engaged with the guide shaft 301 to move up and down, and adriving belt 302 used to move the lift unit 301 up and down.

The lift unit 310 has a block 312 that is operatively held on a beltmechanism 311 to move backward and forward, and the block 312 isprovided with a fixed lower hand 313 and an upper hand 314 verticallymovable along the shaft 315 by means of the belt 316. The hands 313 and314 press up and down on the currency notes stacked and ready to bebundled or the currency notes left in sheets in the stacking units 111to 115 and take them out therefrom to transfer to the bundling unit 200and the odd money returning tray 131 of the money returning unit.

<Control Unit 400>

A control unit 400 is provided to control the total operation of thecurrency sorter as a whole. The control unit 400 has a microprocessorserving as the control means, and a communication means usingcommunication line for connecting the microprocessor with asupercomputer such as the one introduced in the center of a financialcompany or organization. Such a communication means serves to send dataon all the circumstances within the currency sorter one after another tothe super computer.

In FIG. 1, the control unit 400 is depicted residing under the bundlingunit 200 for convenience sake, but it can be placed in any spatiallyavailable part within the sorter, as a matter of the design, forexample, behind the operation display unit 11.

In the currency sorter configured as stated above, the present inventionprovides an improved design of the stacking units for the currency notesready to be bundled with the tape and the external stacking units forthe notes to be left unbundled, which can be respectively allocated toindividual categories of the currency notes according to theirrespective denominations, fit and unfit conditions, new and oldversions, and so forth.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary mode setting screen presented in the operationdisplay, which is evoked as a result of touching the uppermost settingbutton in the leftmost column. The screen is configured in a touch panelthat presents guidance to various manipulations of the sorter only byletting the operator touch some part on the screen.

There are various setting buttons in the leftmost, rightmost, and secondrightmost columns in the screen, and the operator touches the buttons toselect the denominations, conditions, and versions of the currency notesto be stacked in the stacking units and the external stacking units.

The second leftmost column gives the descriptions of the settingsselected for each stacking unit and values of the money treated. Theuppermost and second uppermost rows show the settings in relation to theexternal stacking units 121 and 122, and the next four rows show thesettings relative to the stacking units 111 to 114. The stacking unit115 is of a supplemental use in case that any of the stacking units 111to 114 becomes full.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the mixed notes stacked in two of theexternal stacking units 121 and 122, and the fit 5,000-yen notes of boththe new and old versions, the unfit 5,000-yen notes of both theversions, the fit 2,000-yen notes of both the versions, and the unfit2,000-yen notes of both the versions stacked in four of the stackingunits 111 to 114, respectively. The terms “mixed” and “of both the newand old versions” will be explained later.

The remaining part of the screen below these setting descriptions givesthe subtotals for the notes of the individual denominations and thetotal for the all.

FIGS. 3 to 11 are diagrams showing the settings of various processesselectable on the currency sorter according to the present invention.

FIGS. 12 to 14 are diagrams illustrating examples of a screen displayproviding the settings in processing and track record.

A case depicted individually in FIGS. 3 to 5 is an indiscriminativehandling of the notes of the old version from those of the new version,regarding them as notes of normal version: FIG. 3 shows a case where thedenominations of the currency notes to be bundled with the tape areselected, FIG. 4 shows a case where a combination of the denominationsof the currency notes to be bundled are directly selected, and FIG. 5shows a case where the currency notes are not bunched and bundled.

In FIG. 3, an operation in a bundling mode proceeds by selecting thedenominations of the currency notes to be bundled. In this mode, thebundling mode is an initial value (default value).

There are five of the stacking units in this embodiment, and therefore,these stacking units are respectively allocated to individualdenominations of 10,000, 5,000, 2,000, and 1,000. Although the defaultvalue is a designation of all the four denominations, it is notnecessarily desired to sort and bundle the currency notes of all thedenominations, and there is a choice of one, two or three of all thefour denominations, as desired. Allowing for an actual amount passed inthe financial market, the initial value can vary among 10,000 inselecting the single denomination, 10,000 and 1,000 in selecting thedouble denominations, and 10,000, 5,000 and 1,000 in selecting thetriple denominations, and this also can be changed to any singledenomination or any combination of the denominations as desired.

For all the denominations and the combinations thereof, an additionalselection can be made in bunching the currency notes to be bundled,according to the conditions of the notes, namely, fit or unfit. Morespecific discrimination is made among the fit notes of good condition,the unfit notes of poor condition, the mixed fit notes, and the mixedunfit notes so that one of them can be selected, although the initialvalue is the fit notes. The “mixed fit notes” are a batch of thecurrency notes that are stacked without discrimination of the fit notesfrom the unfit notes and then bundled where the unfit notes in thebundle are exceptionally regarded as the fit notes. The “mixed unfitnotes” are a batch of the currency notes under the mixed condition offit and unfit, and after bundled, they have a mark indicating “unfit”stamped on the bundling tape.

There is still another choice between the new and old versions of thecurrency. When the currency is changed in design, the new and oldconditions can be designated for only the notes of the denomination(s)of which design has been renewed, or rather, the conditions may bedesignated without discrimination of the old version from the newversion. The initial value is the new version.

As has been described, since the stacking units are allocated to theindividual categories according to the denominations, conditions, andversions of the notes, and the notes which do not fall in the categoriesare regarded as being not ready to be bundled and transferred to theexternal stacking units instead of the built-in stacking units.

The currency notes sent to the external stacking units can include someother categories designated by the settings. In this embodiment, thereare two of the external stacking units, and therefore, there is a choiceamong discriminating between the fit and unfit conditions,discriminating between the new and old versions, and dumping the mixedwithout such discrimination.

In dumping the fit and unfit notes separately, for example, the externalstacking unit 121 stacks the fit notes not falling in the categoriesdesignated as ready to be bundled with the tape while the externalstacking unit 122 stacks the unfit notes or the mixed notes out of theabove designation. Such a discriminative stacking enables the unfitcurrency notes to be eliminated so that only the fit notes are to betreated in the succeeding steps, and this is advantageous to enhance theoperation efficiency.

In dumping the notes of the new and old versions separately, forinstance, the external stacking unit 121 stacks the new notes out of thedesignation as ready to be bundled with the tape while the externalstacking unit 122 stacks the old notes out of the same designation. Sucha discriminative stacking ensures to eliminate the currency notes of theold version so as to be withheld or not to be passed In the financialmarket.

Under the setting of a choice of the mixed notes, when the externalstacking unit 121 becomes stuffed (typically with two hundreds of thenotes), the external stacking unit 122 is supplementally used. While thenotes are being stacked into the external stacking unit 122, evacuatingthe external stacking unit 121 makes it ready for supplemental useinstead of the stacking unit 122 when it becomes full later. Thecurrency notes stacked in and evacuated from the external stacking unithave their respective categories checked and presented with definitedata on the display unit, and the data are preferably sent to the supercomputer via the communication means of the control unit 400.

FIG. 12 shoes an example of a screen display presented on the operationdisplay unit while the sorting is being conducted in the bundling mode.

The uppermost row and the second uppermost row show the categories ofthe currency notes stacked in the external stacking units. In thisexample, the currency notes not falling in the categories designated asready to be bundled with the tape are deposited without discriminationbetween the fit and unfit conditions and between the new and oldversions.

The following four rows show the settings of four of the built-instacking units, as well as the number of bundles that have been bundled,and the number of sheets left as the odd currency notes without beingbundled. In this case, the currency notes stacked in these stackingunits are of the comunited categories of 10,000-yen fit notes of the oldversion, 10,000-yen unfit notes of the old version, 5,000-yen fit notesof the old versions, and 5,000-yen unfit notes of the old version.

The fourth lowermost row to the lowermost row show the subtotals of thenotes of individual four denominations taken in and processed, and thetotal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a case where the currency notes of the oldversion are treated as notes of normal version, and a variety of mannersof the bundling are directly designated.

There are five manners designated in this embodiment, including “onedenomination/fit and unfit” where only one denomination out of the fourof 10,000, 5,000, 2,000 and 1,000 (initial value is 10,000) is selectedto sort the notes of that denomination according to the fit and unfitconditions and dump them separately into two of the stacking units; “twodenominations/fit and unfit” where two denominations out of the four(initial values are 10,000 and 1,000) are selected to sort the notes ofthose denominations according to the fit and unfit conditions and dumpthem separately into four of the stacking units; “one denomination/newand old” where only one denomination out of the three of 10,000, 5,000,and 1,000 (initial value is 10,000) is selected to sort the notes ofthat denomination according to the new and old versions and dump themseparately into two of the stacking units; “two denominations/new andold (A)” where two denominations out of the three (initial values are10,000 and 1,000) are selected to sort the notes of those denominationsaccording to the new and old versions and dump them separately into fourof the stacking units; and “two denominations/new and old (B)”. With the“two denominations/new and old (B)”, two denominations out of the four(initial values are 10,000 and 1,000) are selected to sort the notes ofthose denominations according to the new, old, and normal versions(initial value is new version). Unlike the “one denomination/new andold” and “two denominations/new and old”, there is no choice among“fit”, “unfit”, “mixed fit”, and “mixed unfit”.

In such a direct designation, at the stacking of the currency notes intothe external stacking unit(s), one out of “all mixed”, “discriminatingfit from unfit”, and “discriminating new from old” can be designated

FIG. 5 depicts a case where the currency notes of the old version aretreated as normal version, and processed without bundling.

“Entry mode” means a manner in which the currency notes of mixedcategory, when deposited in a dumping slit, are sorted out according tothe desired category to dump in the external stacking units, beingstacked head to tail into a orderly heap For this mode, it is determinedin advance what two of the external stacking units are used for, andthere is no choice regarding the external stacking units, or rather, noresponse is given by pressing a setting button. Unidentified notes aretransferred to the rejected note stacking unit 106. The “entry mode”deals with the following four processing categories.

The initial (default) value of the processing categories is“discriminative” where one out of the four denominations of 10,000,5,000, 2,000 and 1,000 (initial value is 10,000) is selected to sort thenotes according to the new, old, normal old versions (initial value isnew), and the fit notes of the selected version is stacked in theexternal stacking unit 121 while both the unfit notes of the selecteddenomination and the notes of the remaining versions are transferred tothe external stacking unit 122. Thus, as is apparent so far, there is nochoice of designating the fit and unfit conditions.

In the remaining processing categories of the “indiscriminative”, “fitand unfit”, and “new and old”, there is no choice of selecting thedenomination, and the currency notes of all the denominations areprocessed mixed.

First, in the “indiscriminative” processing, only the currency notes ofthe designated version of new, old, or normal are conveyed withoutdiscriminating between the fit and unfit conditions and then depositedin the external stacking unit 121. When the external stacking unit 121becomes full, the external stacking unit 122 is substituted for thestacking unit 121. The currency notes of the remaining versions aretransferred to the rejected note stacking unit 106.

In the “fit and unfit” processing, the fit notes of the designatedversion are deposited in the external stacking unit 121 while the unfitnotes of the same version are stacked in the external stacking unit 122.The notes of the remaining versions are transferred to the rejected notestacking unit 106.

In the “new and old” processing, there is no choice of thedenominations, conditions, and versions of the currency notes, and thenotes of the new version is deposited in the external stacking unit 121while the notes of the old version are deposited in the externalstacking unit 122.

In this embodiment, as a matter of convenience of the teaching, there isno choice of the denominations in the “fit and unfit” processing and“new and old” processing, but the denominations may be designated. Inthe latter case, the currency notes of the denominations not designatedare transferred to the rejected note stacking unit 106.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display presented onthe operation display unit when the sorting is being conducted in theentry mode.

The uppermost row and the second uppermost row show the categories ofthe currency notes stacked in the two external stacking units. In thisexample, the currency notes of all the denominations are depositedwithout discrimination between the fit and unfit conditions and betweenthe new and old versions.

The four built-in stacking units are not used, no settings are displayedrelated to the stacking units, and the lowermost row shows the subtotalsof the notes taken in and processed, and the total.

Next, the “batch processing mode” is a manner in which the currencynotes, when deposited In a dumping slit, are counted, and apredetermined number of them are stacked in the external stacking units,being stacked head to tail into a orderly heap.

A determination of the number of sheets is entered from ten keys to fallin a capacity range of the external stacking units (as many as 200 innumber: the initial value is 150), and there is a choice among“automatic”, 10,000, 5,000, 2,000, 1,000 (initial value is “automatic”).Although the notes are normally discriminated between the fit and unfitconditions; if not, there is a choice between fit and unfit, and thereis a further choice among the new, old, face-new versions (initial valueis new). The unfit notes of the selected denomination and the notes ofthe remaining denominations are transferred to the rejected notestacking unit 106.

The denomination “automatic” is a manner in which, when the currencynotes and put in the dumping slit and conveyed, the one incoming firsthas its denomination checked to send all the notes of that denominationto the external stacking units. For example, the note incoming first is10,000-yen bill, the denomination of 10,000 is automatically designatedfor the succeeding sorting.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a screen display presented on theoperation display unit when the sorting is being conducted in the batchmode.

The uppermost row and the second uppermost row show the categories ofthe currency notes stacked in the two external stacking units. In thisexample, the fit notes of the denomination of 10,000 yen are designated.Under the descriptions of the designated categories, a space is providedto enter the number of sheets treated through batch processing, andherein, 150 is given in advance. The batch processing can be repeated asfrequently as desired, and the number of times of conducting the batchprocessing can be designated.

The four built-in stacking units are not used, no settings are displayedrelated to the stacking units, and the lowermost row shows the subtotalsof the notes taken in and processed, and the total.

FIGS. 6 to 8 illustrate various fashions in which the currency notes ofthe old version are treated as rejected notes. All the drawings arecounterparts to FIGS. 3 to 5, respectively, and since their contents aresimilar, only differences between them will be described below.

First, in selecting the dominations as in FIG. 6, a provision that thenotes of the old version must be regarded as rejected notes inevitablyexclude any choice but the new version. The remaining part is similar tothat set forth in conjunction with FIG. 3.

In selecting the sorting categories through the direct bundling mode asin FIG. 7, since it is presupposed that all the notes of the old versionshould be treated as rejected notes, there is no choice of theprocessing categories of the “one denomination/new and old” and the “twodenomination/new and old”, and when the “two denomination/fit and unfit(B)” is designated, there is no choice but the new version.

In a setting screen in FIG. 15, there is a choice of turning on and offof a “fit-side-up” orientation. The “fit-side-up” orientation means amanner in which a bundle of currency notes, when stacked head to tailinto an orderly heap, the upsides of the notes are oriented upward whilethe “wrong-side up” can be defined as an upside down orientation, andthe terms “turning on a fit-side-up mode” is a fashion where all thecurrency notes deposited to bind have all or part of them inverted to bein the “fit-side up” orientation.

Specifically, in the case of bunching and bundling 10,000 bills, turningon the fit-side-up mode causes the discrimination unit 105 to checkfront or reverse orientations of the currency notes deposited in thedumping slit 101, and after that, the front-back reversing unit 107reverses all or part of the currency notes so as to stack them head totail. The fit-side-up notes are stacked in the stacking units 111 to 115and bundled while the fit-side-down notes are expelled to the externalstackers 121, 122. The notes evacuated in this way are stacked head totail in an orderly heap, and therefore, if deposited in the dumping slitagain, they can be re-stacked in the fit-side-up orientation and getready to bind.

Turning off the fit-side-up mode results in the currency notes being putin a disorganized heap where the “fit-side-up and “fit-side-down” notesintermingle with one another, and then bundled with a tape.

FIGS. 9 to 11 illustrate various modes in which all the notes of the oldversion are treated as unfit notes of the new version.

In some real site of the practical use, it is greatly desired that thecurrency notes that should be withheld and those that are to be released(e.g., fit notes of the new version) should be discriminatively bunchedand sealed. When the currency notes of the new version and those of theold version are stacked together, the notes of the old version and theunfit notes of the new version are to be equally prevented fromcirculating in the financial market.

In order to handle all the notes of the old version as unfit notes ofthe new version, the notes of the old version can be designated as unfitnotes of normal version on the setting screen as shown in FIG. 15.Changing the settings in this way, the notes identified with the oldversion in the discrimination unit 105 are treated as the unfit notes ofthe new version regardless of their real fit and unfit conditions.

Since FIGS. 9 to 11 are also counterparts to FIGS. 3 to 5, respectively,and since their contents are similar, only differences between them willbe described below.

First, in selecting the denominations as in FIG. 9, a precondition thatthe notes of the old version must be regarded as unfit notes of the newversion inevitably exclude any choice other than the normal version. Theremaining part is similar to that set forth in conjunction with FIG. 3.

In selecting the sorting categories through the direct bundling mode asin FIG. 9, since It is presupposed that all the notes of the old versionshould be treated as unfit notes of the new version, there is no choiceof the processing categories of the “one denomination/new and old” andthe “two denominations/new and old”, and when the “four denominations”is designated, there is no choice but the new version.

In the “two denominations/fit and unfit” mode, the notes of two of thefour denominations such as 10,000 yen and 5,000 yen are sorted andstacked in bundles of the fit notes of the new version and those of theunfit notes of the new version along with all the notes of the oldversion so as to bind those bundles separately, and hence, theprocessing efficiency can be maximized.

In a manner preset as in FIG. 11 where none of the deposited currencynotes are bunched and bundled, there is no choice between the new andold versions because the sorting according to the new and old versionswould not be conducted in the dumping mode, there is no choice but thenormal version.

Although a variety of settings have been described so far, severaltypified cases will be given below so as to detail how the stackingunits are to be used.

FIG. 16 illustrates allocations of the built-in and external stackingunits to various categories of the currency notes such as facial values,new and old versions, and the like, under the various settings to sorttwo denominations of 10,000-yen and 5,000-yen bills in the embodimentaccording to the present invention where there are five of the built-instacking units and two of the external stacking units. In FIG. 16, thestacking units 111 to 115 are denoted by alphabetical letters A to E,respectively, the external stacking units 121 and 122 are denoted by Fand G, and the rejected note stacking unit 106 is denoted by H.

Case study provided herein: A first case is the “one denomination/fitand unfit” processing with the face value of 10,000 yen designated tosort the fit and unfit notes of that denomination according to the newand old versions where all the notes of the old version are treated asnotes of the new version, regarded as normal version; a second case isthe “two denominations/fit and unfit” processing with the face values of10,000 yen and 5,000 yen designated to sort the fit and unfit notes ofthose denominations according to the new and old versions where all thenotes of the old version are treated similarly as the new version; athird case is the “one denomination/new and old” processing with theface value of 10,000 yen designated to sort the fit notes of thatdenomination according to the new and old versions where all the notesof the old version are treated as the new version; a fourth case is the“two denominations/new and old” processing with the face values of10,000 yen and 5,000 yen designated to sort the fit notes of thosedenominations according to the new and old versions where all the notesof the old version are treated as the new version; a fifth case is theone/denomination/fit and unfit” processing where all the notes of theold version are treated as rejected notes; a sixth case is the “twodenominations/fit and unfit” where all the notes of the old version aretreated as rejected notes; a seventh case is the “one denomination/fitand unfit” processing where all the notes of the old version are treatedas unfit notes of the new version; an eighth case is the “twodenominations/fit and unfit” processing where the notes of the oldversion are treated as unfit notes of the new version; and a ninth caseis the dumping of the currency notes into the stacking units under thespecial settings where the stacking units denoted by alphabeticalletters A to E are allocated to fit notes of the new version of10,000-yen bill, unfit notes of the same, fit notes of the old versionof 10,000-yen bill, unfit notes of the same, and fit notes of the newversion of 5,000-yen bill, respectively, while the remaining stackingunits denoted by F and G are allocated to unfit notes of the new versionof 5,000-yen bill and notes of the old version of 5,000-yen billregarded as the new version.

The currency notes of other denominations, conditions, and versions arestacked in the external stacking units 121 and 122 and the rejected notestacking unit 106 through some required settings.

As has been described, in this embodiment of the present invention, thecurrency notes can be deposited in the four built-in stacking units andthe two external stacking units discriminatively according to thecategories of the notes designated by various settings, and hence, thecurrency notes can be bunched and bundled as desired while the notes ofother denominations, conditions, and versions out of the designation ashaving to bind can be sorted in the optimized manner for each deal,which makes the succeeding handling easier

In the above-mentioned embodiment, without the settings to allocate theexternal stacking units 121 and 122 to the designated categories of thenotes, the notes are first stacked in the external stacking unit 121,and after it becomes full, the other external stacking unit 122 aresubstituted, which has been described above. In such a situation,evacuating the external stacking unit 121 during loading the externalstacking unit 122 with the notes, the empty stacking unit 121 gets readyto be loaded with the notes again.

In the prior art, as the currency notes are evacuated from the externalstacking units, no indication of definite data is given in the displayunit to let the operator confirm the number of the notes removed fromthe stacking units.

Thus, in this embodiment, the display unit provides the definite data onparticulars of the evacuated notes from the external stacking units.

FIG. 17 depicts the display screen providing the determinate data, andthe display unit gives indications of the number of sheets for each ofthe denominations of the currency notes taken out of the stacking units.This display contains only data of greater concern that are derived fromthe processing in the bundling mode under the settings of dumping themixed notes in the external stacking units. The indication of the datais effected in simultaneous with the evacuation of the stuffed externalstacking unit during which the processing units are in the stand-bystatus. Thus, the evacuation of the external stacking unit that is notfull is not followed by the indication of the determinate data.

The determinate data are transmitted to a supercomputer introduced inthe center of a company or organization, through communication line orwireless means, and stacked in the supercomputer.

The display unit provides clear indications of the number of theevacuated currency notes from the individual stacking units, and thisfacilitates confirmation of the particular numbers as definite data fromthe evacuation of the stacking units.

Especially, incremented numbers on the display unit lets the operatorknow if the stacking unit is evacuated when it is full, and an excessivefrustration in handling the sorter can be relieved.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating a control procedure in the case ofthe completely stuffed stacking unit, which is a unique part of theoperation of the present invention.

Such control is preprogrammed, assuming that because currency notes tosort and bind are divided in four categories which the five stackingunits are respectively allocated to, there still is the extra stackingunit.

The deposited currency notes are taken In (Step S1), and afterundergoing the discrimination step, they are sorted according to thecategories and put into four stacking units. Unless any of the stackingunits is full (Step S2), the program will proceed with the processingtill all the deposited notes have been fed in (Step S10). In this case,the taking-in of the currency notes is continually conducted.

If any of the stacking units becomes full (Step S2), the currency notesof the same category (categories) as those filling the stacking unit arestacked in the extra stacking unit (Step S3). A counter provided in eachof the stacking units measures if the stacking unit is completely fullor if it is about to be (detailed later).

When, any of the stacking units having become full, the substitutedextra stacking unit is being loaded with the currency notes and stillnone of the stacking Units is vacant (Step S4), the taking-in of thenotes turns to be intermittent (Step S5). The intermittent taking-in,unlike the continual taking-in, is sending the currency notes not simplyin succession but in a fashion of considerably degraded operation speeddespite the continual operation where after the first one of thedeposited notes is sent to the discrimination unit to check itsdenomination, fit or unfit condition, new or old version, and the like,the succeeding notes are fed in. Thus, the intermittent taking-in of thenotes is continued unless any of the stacking units is evacuated (StepS6).

As the currency notes filling the stacking unit are evacuated and thentransferred to the bundling, the current settings are changed so thatthe evacuated stacking unit is ready to serve as another extra stackingunit (Step S7).

This quickens the taking-in of the notes, and thus, a transit from theintermittent taking-in to the continual taking-in can be effected (StepS8).

It is confirmed if the taking-in of the notes has been completed (StepS9), and if so, the entire operation is stopped. If not, the controloperation in Step S2 is repeated.

The definition of the state of being about to be full can be made asdesired, and the currency notes almost filling the stacking unit mayrange from 97 to 99 in number, with a supporting idea that typically,the stacking unit is completely stuffed with a hundred of the currencynotes.

The counter is incremented either when the single currency note isdeposited in the stacking unit or when the category check of the note inthe discrimination unit results in the stacking unit being allocated.

When a preset value is predetermined as 99, and the current countervalue reaches 98, it is greatly suspected that the counter isincremented to 99 when the single note is fed in. Also, allowing forsuch proneness, the control is preprogrammed.

When one of the stacking unit has been full, and another stacking unitthat was about to be full has turned to be completely full, none of thestacking units is available to receive the notes already fed in, andonly when such flood with the notes occurs, the entire operation isinterrupted.

Employing the control preprogrammed as mentioned above, the feedingspeed is dropped although the taking-in operation is not interrupted,and it is more likely to enhance an availability of the evacuatedstacking unit, which brings about a reduced frequency of rejection ofthe normal currency notes and interruption of the machine operation. Inthis way, the processing efficiency is raised.

FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 19C are schematic frontal views illustratingimprovements of the dumping slit 101, especially observed facing towardthe same. The dumpling slit is an open box defining a cup 1011 in whichcurrency notes 150 are laid, and a sheet weight 1013 is located abovethe cup so as to move up and down in the open box.

The sheet weight 1013 continues to press down on the bank notes insheets from fit after the bank notes and deposited till all the notesare fed in the sorter body, and pushing a button causes the sheet weightto lift up.

With such a configuration, however, the sheet weight blocks additionalbank notes from being put in. In general, when the currency notes aredeposited in a moderate heap in the cup, a weight of the notesthemselves tends to help them to shoot in one sheet after anotherwithout malfunction. When a pile of bank notes are laid in the cup 1011,however, pressing force by the sheet weight produces an excessive loadonto the bank notes, and this sometimes damages the bank notes.

Thus, in this embodiment of the present invention, sensors are providedin a wall surrounding the cup 1011 to detect the top of the heap of thebank notes reach the lower critical level at and below which malfunctionin feeding the notes in is prone to occur. The sheet weight works onlywhen the top of the bank notes is lower than the critical level.

The sensors typically used have a light-emitting element incommunication with a photo-detector. The bank notes, piled up to acertain level between the light emitting element and the photo-detectoras shown in FIG. 9A, shields light emitted from the light emittingelement, and hence, the sheet weight recedes high above the bank notes.With the sheet weight held in this position, it is easy to layadditional bank notes on the existing notes, and the sheet weight doesnot apply load excessively onto the bank notes.

As the bank notes progressively shoot in the sorter, and the top of thebank notes lowers beyond the position of the sensors, the sheet weight1013 comes and press down on the bank notes, and thus, the bank notescan be stably fed in. The sheet weight 1013, when detected by thesensors in the course of coming down, are forced to recede, and in orderto prevent this, the detection by the sensors is interrupted for twoseconds.

If malfunction occurs with the sheet weight receding high above thenotes, the sheet weight comes down in response to a command of “retry”.This puts the bank notes strait in the cup to avoid the malfunction infeeding in the notes as much as possible. Thus, such malfunction nolonger cause an inadvertent interruption of the operation, as well.

As shown in FIG. 19C, the sensors featured as in the above, whenshielded from each other with an intervening opaque object, function tomake the sheet weight lift up, and additional bank notes can be laid. Inthis way, the sensors work as a switch turned on to activate the sheetweight.

The bank notes, being superposed on the existing notes, inevitablyshield the sensors from each other. The sheet weight is raised inresponse to this, and the additional bank notes are put in positionwhile the sensors are not on the watch. In this way, the additional banknotes are deposited by one hand, and the operability is enhanced.

Also, in the embodiment of the present invention, since there are fiveof the stacking units that is greater in number than the denominationsof the currency, not only the currency notes of all the denominationscan be efficiently processed at the same time, but also allocating fourof the five stacking units to various categories of the currency notespermits the notes of two of the denominations to be simultaneouslysorted out according to the categories.

When one of the four stacking units to a certain denomination (or acertain version or condition of the notes) becomes full while all theremaining stacking units are in use, the fifth extra stacking unit canbe substituted to stack the notes of the denomination already fed in thesorter. In this way, a rejection of normal notes and an interruption ofthe operation can be avoided, and the processing efficiency can beenhanced.

Handling the notes of old version as unfit notes of new version, simplydesignating to sort out fit and unfit conditions of the currency notespermits the notes of the old version to be bunched and bundled, and inthis way, the notes of the old version can be efficiently withheld notto circulate in the financial market any longer.

The currency of four denominations are passed at present in Japan, andallowing for a future renewal in design of 10,000-yen bill, 5,000-yenbill and 1,000-yen bill, more than five stacking unit should berequired, and the current requirement of five stacking units can bechanged to any number for efficient processing if it is larger by one innumber than the denominations of the currency increased in future.

1. A currency sorter comprising: a take-in unit to take-in currency notes in the sorter one by one; a discrimination unit to discriminate the currency notes according to a plurality of categories selected or combined from currency note conditions including new and old versions, fit and unfit conditions and denominations; a plurality of stacking units to stack the currency notes of a predetermined category/categories designated to be bundled according to the discrimination results obtained by said discrimination unit, the number of said stacking units being greater by one than the number of denominations; a bundling unit to bundle currency notes of predetermined number stacked in said plurality of stacking units; a counter to count the currency notes stacked in said plurality of stacking units; a conveying route to convey the currency notes from said take-in unit to said stacking units; a designating unit to designate the category/categories of the notes to be bundled and a mode of sorting the notes to leave unbundled; and a control unit to control allocation of currency notes discriminated by said discrimination unit to one of said plurality of stacking units according to a designation by said designating unit, and for controlling taking-in operation of said take-in unit, such that after one of the stacking units becomes completely full, the extra stacking unit is substituted to stack the notes of the same denomination, and when stacking in the extra stacking unit, if it is detected that the remaining stacking units are about to be full by the counter, feeding mode of said conveying route is switched from “continual feeding” to “intermittent feeding” to confirm denomination by said discriminating unit and the substitution continues until new space generates in the extra stacking unit.
 2. The currency sorter according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls to cease the taking in of the notes, and the feeding mode of the conveying route when, by the counter, one of the stacking units is detected completely full, and one of the remaining stacking units is detected that was about to be full turns to be full.
 3. The currency sorter according to claim 1, wherein there are four categories of the currency notes to be bundled while the stacking units are five in number. 